After-school tutoring sessions focused on developing long-term skills can help at-risk students become independent, successful learners. Strategic tutoring teaches students strategies for learning and performing while receiving help with class assignments. There are four instructional stages: assessing students' strategies and constructing,…

With structure and support, volunteers can be a great resource for after-school programs. Program managers should train volunteers with specific information, provide appropriate teaching strategies and materials, put important information in writing, match volunteers appropriately, facilitate icebreaker activities, respect volunteers' time, stress…

The Lawrence (Kansas) Public School District has a federally funded, three-site 21st Century Community Learning Center (including two elementary schools and one junior high school.) that offers academic, cultural, social, and recreational activities during after-school hours. Staff receives training aligned with students' diverse needs and…

Science centers and children's museums, such as the New York Hall of Science and the Orlando (Florida) Science Center, offer rich programs linked to students' classroom learning and provide an informal, inquiry-based setting for exploring major concepts. School/museum partnerships can further teachers' and students' lifelong learning progress.…

Research shows that when students learn in outdoor settings (compared to classrooms), they learn more quickly, appreciate the experience more, and retain skills longer. This article describes the University of Georgia's School Design and Planning Laboratory, a Georgia middle school's living history/wetlands project, and two other outdoor-learning…

In 1999, two schools in an impoverished border town in Texas received 3-year federal grants from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program to support varied after-hours activities: academic tutoring, computer literacy, "ballet folklorico," arts and crafts, guitar instruction, and service learning. Students and parents now have a safe…

A language arts teacher at a California middle school describes an exercise he developed to help students understand disabilities through virtual, firsthand experience. As students simulate being blind, unable to walk, they learn how to adjust, innovate, compensate, cooperate, and empathize with one another. (MLH)

Background noise from loud ventilation systems, outdoor activities, and poor acoustics can lead to voice problems for teachers, worsen hearing-impaired students' listening ability, and create unhealthy learning environments. Solutions include providing teachers with a sound-field amplification system and improving classroom acoustics. (MLH)

Asserts that because student learning and development are complex and dynamic, educators must learn to differentiate between functional and optimal skill levels and then to target their teaching and curriculum materials accordingly. (PKP)

Interview with neuropsychologist Brain Butterworth about what research has revealed about how the brain learns abstract concepts such as mathematics and the implications of these findings for teaching mathematics. (PKP)

Describes results of recent research that finds ADHD is predominately a cognitive disorder rather than a behavior disorder. Draws implications for instruction of ADHD students based on answers to three key questions. (Contains 11 references.) (PKP)

Describes characteristics of students with nonverbal learning disorders and offers teachers suggestions for helping them work with students with these disabilities. Includes story of one nonverbal learning-disabled student's school experience. (PKP)

Describes three types of brain disorders: the sluggish, the oppositional, and the depressed. Explains how to identify these disorders and offers educators strategies for dealing with each. (Contains 11 references.) (PKP)

Suggests that many students identified as learning disabled may have normal brains but learn differently, thus educators should stop stigmatizing these students with the term "learning disabled." Advocates the abandonment of standardized tests that are used to label students for alternative, nonquantitative assessment methods. (Contains 13…

Refutes the myths surrounding gifted students that may still influence how they are educated. Suggests ways to improve the classroom learning experience for these students. (Contains 12 references.) (PKP)